This is an outright awful search result which warrants a post all its own. Is this what you would want to see if you were searching for a “search engine”? Shouldn’t at least some, or even just one (1) of the world’s best search engines appear on this page? https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=search+engine At least Google was different. http://www.bing.com/search?hl=en&q=search+engine http://search.yahoo.com/search?ei=UTF-8&fr=sfp&p=search+engine Now we are left with three junky search engines. The best search results actually look to be on GigaBlast.com http://www.gigablast.com/search?q=search+engine At least there is a few good resources listed there (including the three most used search engines, and they’re ranking at the top, exactly where they should be).

According to a report by online agency, WebMarketing123, search engine optimization (SEO) continues to maintain its top standing for lead generating channels. U.S. digital marketers have also reported a steady decline in pay per click (PPC) effectiveness. Over 500 U.S. marketing professionals, 65 percent of whom identified as B2B marketers were surveyed. Companies represented included: GE Sony Cisco Olympus Bose FedEx Respondents from businesses with at least 1,000 employees amounted to 32 percent, while 23 percent came from companies with approximately 50 or less employees. The 2012 State of Digital Marketing Survey also reports B2B marketers have indicated that social media marketing has also surpassed PPC as a lead generation channel. Successful Lead Generation SEO was credited by 59 percent of B2B and 49 percent of B2C marketers as having the greatest impact upon lead generation. Those numbers were a great deal higher than that of social media and PPC. The report indicated that B2B marketers believe social media has a slight edge over PPC, at 21 percent and 20 percent, respectively. Last Year Comparison When compared to report results from last year, survey results indicated that Search Engine Optimization was given more credit for lead generation by both B2B and B2C marketers this year, while less credit was given to PPC efforts. PPC experienced a five point decline from the B2B side, from 25 to 20 percent. There was an eight point dip from 34 to 26 percent for the B2C side marketers. SEO vs. PPC There are quite

The last year or so has brought on many updates in search, thus keeping Google’s “Panda” and “Penguin” fresh in the minds of hundreds of thousands of webmasters. “Creating unexpected results” and/or “Injecting Noise” within search results is now common play. In all of the confusion, who stands to gain? Below is an exceptional info graphic which includes the thoughts (quotes) of some of search’s best minds, like Danny Sullivan, Aaron Wall and produced by NowSourcing.com with research produced by WordStream.com. With the credits now out of the way and without further ado, plenty of interesting numbers in “The War on Free Clicks: How Pay-Per-Click Ads Are Taking Over Google’s Search Results and Why That is Good for Marketers”.

Mega search engine “Google” is set to a pay the largest civil penalty ever secured by the FTC for a violation of one of their orders. The $22.5 million fine involves Google’s tracking of users who accessed the Web through Apple’s Safari browser but many claim that the FTC shouldn’t have let Google off so easily as they’ll admit no wrongdoing in the case; so long as they pay the money – essentially allowing the firm to buy its way out of trouble – despite violating a previous agreement signed last year. In October 2011, an FTC settlement with Google “bared the company from future privacy misrepresentations,” and required Google to implement a comprehensive privacy program. While this fine is gargantuan in size, it’s a mere slap on the wrist for the search engine giant whom will pay this debt with revenues generated from a single day of profits (Google generates roughly $133,333,333.00 per day of which about 25% is classified as net income). In addition to paying their ransom of $22.5 million, Google will have to disable tracking cookies – those of which caused their problems in the first place. The allegation suggests that Google placed cookies on the computers of Safari users for several months between 2011 and 2012 without their knowledge. Cookies were served from publishers of Google’s DoubleClick Ad Network which Google had originally claimed were exempt from tracking ability by default settings in Safari’s browser which blocks these cookies on iPhones and iPads as well as

Google’s redesigned Maps for Mobile app has created quite a stir recently. The program changed the way that it serves users local ads. Individual cellular phone users are now expected to click-through ads more often. Phrases like “click to call” have really helped with the click-through rate. Phone users tend to do other things with their mobile devices than merely surf the Internet or run apps. They also use them to place calls and do many of the things that someone would do with a landline telephone. These updates reflect this fact. Cell phone users might very well be more likely to place calls to places of business. Small business owners might be attracted to advertising on the platform for that reason. Social features are also becoming increasingly important with individuals who do regular web searches. Google+ has decided to go above and beyond the norm with this aspect of the service. Google Places for Business listing accounts are an excellent way for businesses to drive extra traffic to their sites. Local listing tabs now present on Google+ are apparently impacting search results. While it doesn’t appear that traditional search engine optimization techniques will be obsolete any time soon, social media has a lot to do with increasing rankings. More importantly, local businesses can use Google+ to reach new clients in their own area. This is better than trying to reach out blindly across the Internet. Traditional local search solutions have been provided by Yelp for some time now. Yelp